Me and my wife just got started a few months ago with buying and selling on eBay. As we've taken the time to learn (and are still learning) about all the advantages and opportunities available in second-party software services, we came across the Gixen.com website.

We have seen or heard of quite a few of these websites, and looked at a few of them for their details, services, and prices. There are a few decent ones out there which are actually free and a few of them out there that just make your skin crawl.

We're not very computer savvy, but we know enough to be very careful with our passwords and other online information. So, as we began to look closer at just a handful of services, we began to inquire with some trusted friends who are much smarter than us when it comes to this kind of thing (they're both computer programmers by trade.) And they couldn't recommend Gixen.com to us nearly enough. They both said that had been using the service for a long time and loved the simplicity, anonymity, and success of it.

Now, our concerns were that the site looked really plain and that free just sounded too good to be true. That's when our friends explained that free was great, but the paid service was even better. (Free makes more sense to us now, because as with most services, the good stuff is always behind the other side of a sale.) Funny thing is, we've just been using the free service so far and can't even imagine how this service could ever be any better. It's so simple to use, we've won so often (and saved so much money), and it really is safe for the new user. We can't wait to begin trying out the paid service (which seems VERY reasonably priced.)

But perhaps the biggest selling point to us was WHY the website looked so plain and simple. This is something that I wish the owner would make more clear for future users. (Perhaps he's not exactly proud of the fact that he's not some master programmer, though he could have fooled us!) The reason the site looks so plain and simple is that the website owner is only proficient in certain types of coding. He has no problem making a very secure site that is quite functional and very effective. However, he is not so good at other types of coding (I think my friend called it Flashy or something, I just call it bells and whistles.) So, the site owner could just jam all that Flashy stuff on to that Gixen.com website to make it all pretty and shiny like some of the others... BUT then he would have to pay someone who knows Flashy coding (which would probably mean he'd start charging for the free stuff) or he could try it himself, which might make the sight less secure!

Well, I'm no web expert, but I am someone who prefers to have his personal information protected while online. And if you show me a site made by someone who would rather make things plain and simple to keep it safe and secure than to dress up it up and put everyone at risk -- Well, my vote will always go for safe and secure. You can trust all those other flashy looking website with blinking lights and fancy menus if you want to (and do so at your own risk) but I'm completely happy with a service that looks plain, but protects the hell out of its users! Especially when that site has allowed us to save so much money and has removed all the frustration of dealing with morons who raise bids at the last second just for fun.

We love the free service, our information has always remained safe, and we can't wait to see how much faster and better the paid services are (as if things could actually get better than they are now!)

Jeremy & Rebecca, thank you very much for the review. You got it right - I am on my own turf when it comes to the backend, low-level Unix/C/Network programming, but not so good when it comes to the user interface. The present interface is a combination of html, php and some basic javascript. Re-hauling the UI would be a huge task at this point, and I am not sure with how much success it would end up. The present interface is extremely simple, but one can still access it all the functionality through it.

For users that are not happy with that, there is always an option to use the Gixen API and develop whatever interface they prefer on top of it.